Directions: As a group, discuss and decide what the teachers of Gateway, the larger region, noticed when the children of the communities of Roadville and Trackton showed up to begin school, where for the first time they began to experience on an extended basis the townspeople’s ways of using oral and written language. What differences did the teachers find with regard to the literacies of the students from these different communities, and how did it affect their teaching? When time is called, you will present your ideas to the class.
Teachers found that while most habits, including writing, were usually designated ans stuck to by adults in Roadville's community, Trackton did not employ as much structure. Trackton's reading and writing habits were much more community-based and involved, being more reliant on verbal sharing and informal communication (whereas Roadville, in comparison, relied much more heavily on designated means of writing i.e. letters for simple conversation and planning). Much of Roadville's students' early experience in reading was based on letter-writing and some on Bible study as well. Trackton's, in comparison, was more community-based, where children read what was around them (in different, non-designated contexts). In order to teach more effectively, teachers aimed to learn about the communities and engage parents in school work; teachers learned about students' identities, re-evaluated forms of assessment, and found new ways to connect students' backgrounds with their school-based goals. They employed transitional activities and took time to learn about students' varying use of informal language while reconsidering forms of literacy as they pertained to the way students' had been learning (for Trackton, i.e. street signs, reading aloud in groups together, telling stories, and naming signs along the road; for Roadville, stories in church and conversational letters). There were also lessons in respect, tolerance, and understanding of diversity.
Directions: As a group, discuss and decide what the teachers of Gateway, the larger region, noticed when the children of the communities of Roadville and Trackton showed up to begin school, where for the first time they began to experience on an extended basis the townspeople’s ways of using oral and written language. What differences did the teachers find with regard to the literacies of the students from these different communities, and how did it affect their teaching? When time is called, you will present your ideas to the class.
Teachers found that while most habits, including writing, were usually designated ans stuck to by adults in Roadville's community, Trackton did not employ as much structure. Trackton's reading and writing habits were much more community-based and involved, being more reliant on verbal sharing and informal communication (whereas Roadville, in comparison, relied much more heavily on designated means of writing i.e. letters for simple conversation and planning). Much of Roadville's students' early experience in reading was based on letter-writing and some on Bible study as well. Trackton's, in comparison, was more community-based, where children read what was around them (in different, non-designated contexts). In order to teach more effectively, teachers aimed to learn about the communities and engage parents in school work; teachers learned about students' identities, re-evaluated forms of assessment, and found new ways to connect students' backgrounds with their school-based goals. They employed transitional activities and took time to learn about students' varying use of informal language while reconsidering forms of literacy as they pertained to the way students' had been learning (for Trackton, i.e. street signs, reading aloud in groups together, telling stories, and naming signs along the road; for Roadville, stories in church and conversational letters). There were also lessons in respect, tolerance, and understanding of diversity.